Sunday, March 29, 2015

Pattern blocks are ubiquitous in elementary schools, but they're not commonly seen in middle school or high school. Yet, they do offer plenty of interesting curricular opportunities. (And yes, they're fun!) One of the activities I created for them, Angles Around A Point (Lab 1.1 in Geometry Labs) is definitely among my most popular for middle school, or for Day 1 of a Geometry course. I have heard of its use in many classrooms.Here is a photo from a lesson on symmetry in my Space course, a few years ago:

Student-created dodecagon: 3-fold rotational symmetry, no mirrors

In any case, I have now created a Pattern Blocks launch page on my Web site, linking to various pattern blocks activities I have designed over the years, including one I have not shared before: Wallpaper Starters. Here is an example of the latter:

Extend the pattern, making sure the four given lines are lines of symmetry for the (infinite) tiling you generate.

Add pattern blocks to your teaching repertoire! Your students will thank you, and you will not regret it.--Henri

No comments:

Post a Comment

Search This Blog

Search my Web site

Henri Picciotto

I have retired from the classroom after 42 years as a math teacher in K-12 — from counting to calculus. I now work with teachers and schools, and I continue to develop curriculum.

I share instructional materials on my Math Education Page, and my views on math education on this blog. Also on this blog, announcements about: new pages, updates, etc. on the site; my publications; my appearances at conferences; and my other activities in math education.

--Henri

Note: All material on this blog is copyrighted. You may reproduce it for any non-commercial purpose, as long as you credit me and link to the blog. More info.

Subscribe Via E-Mail

Subscribe in a Reader

#MTBoS

Math Twitter BlogoSphere: network with like-minded educators!

Apologies

All the comments between August 2013 and June 2016 got deleted at once by Google when I disconnected the comments from Google+. I had to disconnect because otherwise it was impossible to remove spam. Apologies to all the commenters.